1st August - Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire

Hard to believe it is August already, the year seems to be flying past.  This morning I had arranged to meet Ian at the Shipton Belinger Village Hall car park.  The site is just on the Hampshire - Wiltshire border and over the years has not been as successful as we would have hoped for.  At least the weather today appeared to be playing ball, forecast as a sunny day, a rarity just lately as we have just endured one of the wettest July's on record.

We were here to find the Brown Hairstreak and hopefully some supporting cast and as we walked along the bridleway that leads to the main field we disturbed a few Red Admiral, not a surprise with the record numbers being seen this summer.  We snuck through a gap in the hedge to walk onto the main meadow where at the back the tall trees provide the shelter and sun trap for the butterflies.

Both the short grass and the longer grass was full of the purple flowers of wild Basil and this was attracting the butterflies, Meadow Brown were everywhere, but there were also a few Common Blue.  Here a male.

And there were plenty of females about too.

Gatekeeper were in the hedges.

A Green-veined White.

The sun was not quite out, although there was some hazy sunshine about.  Not all the butterflies were ready to emerge, this male Brimstone still roosting under the leaves.

The trees at the back of the meadow are fronted by Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Bramble, down at ground level there is also a good amount of wild Fennel and plenty of Wild Basil and Self Heal, all in flower and attracting the insects.

Again no surprise, there was plenty of Red Admiral.

A Silver-washed Fritillary was a nice find, albeit a little worn it appeared from behind the taller trees.

The count of species continued to go up with a Comma.

And then a Holly Blue, the first of many on the day.

As I watched the Holly Blue I noticed a darker butterfly with a distinctive fluttery flight, it settled on a nearby leaf, the one we had hoped to find and the first clear sighting of a Brown Hairstreak for quite a while.

Open winged this is a male, the Brown Hairstreak is our largest Hairstreak here in the United Kingdom.  Both sexes have the dark chocolate brown upper wing with orange "tails", but the larger female has the orange band on the forewing, while the male just shows a smudge if at all.

It was buzzed by a Gatekeeper and they duelled for a while making it difficult to track the right butterfly, fortunately I picked the right one and it settled on the Fennel flowers.  This time with closed wings showing the beautiful colours and markings of the underside.

Then it was gone, duelling once again with a Gatekeeper and this time I lost it completely.  It was then back to searching, but there was always something about to keep you interested.

A Common Blue.

A nice study of the Small White, not a butterfly that gets a lot of attention but as an unseen beauty and not just a Cabbage White as they are often referred to.

And the other "Cabbage" White the Large White.

You find yourself walking up and down the line of trees staring at the leaves for a glimpse of orange.  Gatekeepers set out to deceive you as they wind their way through the Fennel and the bramble.  

One find was a Small Copper nectaring on the Self Heal.

Towards the east end of the bushes there was a group of Musk Thistles, a common plant of chalky soils and a source of nectar for many insects.  Bumblebees were all over the flower heads and also a few Red Admirals and Peacocks.  As I watched the butterflies I was joined by a Hummingbird Hawk-moth and it was moving between the flower heads.

At this point I hadn't played with the camera settings and the wings become a blur as the moth hovers around the thistle flowers, there was though a beautiful dark background.

As quickly as it would appear it would leave, flying up into the taller trees at the back.  But it would return, or maybe others did as at one time there were three nectaring on the flowers.

I love Hummingbirds and have photographed many in the Americas, unfortunately the nearest you can get to those beautiful birds here in Europe is the Hummingbird Hawk-moth.

I changed the camera settings once it had flown away, increasing the shutter speed to try and capture the moth's wings, it was trial and error, this was set at 1/1000 and cleary was not fast enough as the moth fed on the Wild Basil

Increasing the speed to 1/2500 produced a much better result.  Here you can see the very long proboscis that it probes into the flower with.

Back on the Musk Thistle it was showing very well.

It has greyish-brown forewings, bright orange hindwings, and a greyish body with a broad, black-and-white 'tail'. Its hovering flight is a distinguishing feature; it flutters its wings so quickly that it can appear orange and makes an audible hum.  Even at 1/2500 there was still a blur.

Probably the best.

Then they were gone again and after waiting to see if they would return, it was back to the search for the Brown Hairstreak.  Once again in doing so there were other butterflies to find too.

A Brown Argus

More Common Blue

A mating pair of Gatekeeper.

And a beautiful Peacock.

Back at the west end of the trees there were more Hummingbird Hawk-moths, this time nectaring amongst the Wild Basil and I was ready for them.

It is a small, day-flying hawk-moth and a summer visitor to the UK, migrating from Southern Europe in variable numbers each year. Their migratory habit is the main reason numbers can vary from year to year.  The moth's fortunes depend upon what happens at the breeding sites and on the prevailing winds across Europe.  Occasionally they will hibernate and over winter in southern Britain

There is a legend that this day flying moth are messengers of good tidings, I am sure we could all do with plenty of that right now.  In some years, it can be common and may be seen in gardens, hovering like a hummingbird as it feeds on the nectar of honeysuckle, red valerian and other flowers. It can also be found along woodland edges, and on heathland and scrub. 

In the Mediterranean they will have two broods in a year but in the northern latitudes only one brood.

As with Hummingbirds you have to guess as to where it will go next as they move around the individual flowers very systematically.

The shout went up from others that there was a Brown Hairstreak at an acceptable level, so having filled my boots with the hawk-moth it was time for the real event.

A male once again, the underside orange colour is not as bright as the female, but still is a beatiful looking butterfly with the white "hairstreaks" and the orange tail.

I managed to catch it as it took to the air showing the chocolate upper wing and the tails.

They were now starting to show well, all males though.

The Brown Hairstreak is a local species that lives in self-contained colonies that breed in the same area year after year. This species can also prove elusive, since it spends much of its time resting and basking high up in tall shrubs and trees.

The last few years have found it very difficult to find what is a very elusive butterfly at times.  Visits have either been on days of poor weather, wrong time of day or just too late in August.  Today though was perfect and we were treated to some superb views with the most impressive backgrounds.

Sharing Bramble with a Bumblebee.

The bee left.

Purple Emperor are impressive, but for me this is one of the most beautiful British butterflies.

Males will adopt a "master tree" normally an Ash which stands above the surrounding tree canopy.  Here they will congregate with unmated females after they emerge.  Males only rarely descend to feed and then are approachable as we were finding.

The females are more often seen as they come down to lay their eggs, but this only occurs when the temperatures are above 20 degrees, which is why we have missed them in the past.

Egg-laying sites are typically in sheltered areas at the edges of woodland or hedgerows where younger growth that is south-facing is favoured. The female will crawl among the branches of the foodplant, feeling the branches for appropriate sites, when egg-laying.

It was time to get creative and to use the wonderful bokums that the grass and bushes were providing.

A  different view, but with the orange "tails" clearly visible.

Open wings.

Front on amongst the fennel.

Stunning

Open wings once more.

And a close up.

With a beautiful green background.

With so many shots we decided to try and find the other special butterfly here, the Wall Brown.  Last year I did manage to find quite a few and I was a little surprised I hadn't seen any this morning.  We walked around the area, sticking to the chalk exposed paths and places where maybe they would be basking, but to no luck.

We did though come through another large meadow.

And there was a surprise with this male Chalk Hill Blue.

Walking back to the main meadow there were a lot of Brimstone about now, mostly nectaring on the Wild Basil.

We did a few more circuits in search of Wall, but with out any luck.  It was left to a Brown Hairstreak to put in an appearance on the stony ground instead.

Females egg laying may well be in a week's time so maybe we come back then to witness that and hopefully to get a Wall Brown.